It was a strong regular season for Joel Embiid, James Harden, and the Sixers. But its always been about the playoffs.

James Harden and Joel Embiid became the first pair of teammates to win a scoring and assist title in the same season since 1982.

Joel Embiid won the scoring title and James Harden the assists title. But they must help the Sixers get beyond the second round of the playoffs.Read moreHeather Khalifa / Staff Photographer

by Keith Pompey

Published April 10, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

NEW YORK — Things are about to get real for the 76ers.

They capped another solid regular season with a 134-105 victory over the Brooklyn Nets Sunday afternoon in a game defined by more who didn’t play — Joel Embiid, James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, P.J. Tucker, De’Anthony Melton, and Georges Niang — than who did. At 54-28, the Sixers posted their best record since going 56-26 during the 2000-01 season.

Joel Embiid won his second consecutive scoring title (averaging 33.1 points per game), while James Harden won his second assist title (10.7 assists per game). (Harden’s first one came in 2017 with the Houston Rockets.) In doing so, Harden and Embiid became the first pair of teammates to win a scoring and assist title in the same season since 1982.

A lot of phenomenal things happened.

But the Sixers will once again be judged by what they do in the postseason. That begins Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center when they kick off their best-of-seven first-round series against the Nets (45-37).

Much has been made about Harden taking around a $15 million pay cut so the Sixers could sign P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr. in free agency. Those two, along with Montrezl Harrell, were brought in to provide toughness that the Sixers lacked in last year’s playoffs. The team later acquired Jalen McDaniels from the Charlotte Hornets before the Feb. 9 trade deadline to provide additional two-way depth.

The hope is these moves will translate to a deep postseason run. The Sixers and their fans can’t stomach another second-round exit.

Ultimately, the goal this season is to win the franchise’s first NBA title since 1983. But in order to accomplish that, they must first advance beyond the second round for the first time since 2001. The Sixers are 1-12 in second-round series dating back to 1986.

So advancing beyond the second round matters more than finishing 54-28.

But there were some big takeaways from the regular season that provide hope.

“We just hung in there,” coach Doc Rivers said. “We had a lot of injuries, especially early on.”

Those injuries combined with an adjustment period for new teammates resulted in the Sixers going 12-12 through their first 24 games. But they started to put the league on notice in January.

That’s when Philly began looking like a legitimate contender, not just a squad anchored by perennial All-NBAers Embiid and Harden. That becme apparent after their 129-127 road victory over the Sacramento Kings on Jan. 21 without Embiid and Harden. Tyrese Maxey scored 15 of his game-high 32 points in the third quarter.

“We had no one,” Rivers said. “They were rolling inside Sacramento. Down 18, we win the game. [The game] Friday, [the Atlanta Hawks] needed to win and our guys found a way to win. We had a bunch of those games.

“I think those are things that keep your team above water.”

But this season and the team’s playoff hopes are mostly aligned with how Embiid performs. And he’s expected to be named the league’s MVP.

“He just keeps getting better, keeps growing,” Rivers said. “Our team is coming together. Tyrese, James. So there’s a lot of good things.”

In the process, Embiid and Harden did something that hasn’t been accomplished in 41 seasons when the San Antonio Spurs’ George Gervin won the scoring title and Johnny Moore led the league in assists per game.

Embiid averaged 33.1 points to become the first player to win consecutive scoring titles since Harden won three straight with the Rockets from 2017-18 to 2020-21. The last center before Embiid to win consecutive scoring titles was Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo. He won three straight with the Buffalo Braves from 1973-74 to 1975-76.

Meanwhile, Harden won the assist title at 10.7 per game. Not bad for a future Hall of Famer primary known for his three scoring titles.

“That’s huge, especially with James where people kind of put him in a box of who he was,” Rivers said of the duo’s achievements. “And he’s showing that he is something more. That’s been great for us.”

So was having role players step up from time to time.

Shake Milton stood out earlier in the season when Maxey, Harden, and Embiid were all sidelined. Georges Niang has a knack for hitting big shots. And Paul Reed has developed into a solid backup center.

The Sixers’ unheralded players received a lot of minutes as the Sixers rested key players the final two games.

On Sunday, they rested all five starters — Embiid, Harden, Maxey, Tucker, and Tobias Harris — along with their top reserves Melton, and Niang while Brooklyn played without nine players.

Melton, a three-and-D guard, was acquired from Memphis Grizzlies on draft night to provide added two-way toughness in the postseason.

But ...

“The last piece was getting Jalen,” Rivers said. “The regular season and playoffs are so different. You can get away with the one-way guys all year, all regular season.

“Then the playoffs come, and then those guys that can just score or can just defend, they get put on an island and it’s hard for them. It’s hard for the coach. You have to play them in the right space with the right people. It takes a lot of thought into putting one-way guys on the floor.”

Rivers said he can put a two-way guy on the floor any time.

“They can give you both,” he said, “and the more that you have, the better your basketball team is. And I think we’ve accomplished that overall.”

Rivers said he’s had a good time all season coaching this team. A lot of that has to do with the players’ cooperation. He learned from former coach Pat Riley, a Hall of Famer, that a group of players who cooperate provides a chance to win. Rivers thinks the Sixers have that.

“Now, we haven’t gotten into stress, yet,” he said. “Then you know if cooperation works really, because it’s easy when the stress is not on. Now, we’re about to go to the playoffs, and we’ll see that.

“If that continues, we’re going to be hard to beat.”